At 08:50 AM 8/2/96 EDT, Paul J. Bell wrote:

i, for one, and perhaps others on the list as well, would be interested in hearing what you mean when you say, "At&t, Microsoft, etc) who are ripping people off on a daily basis".

I don't know about Microsoft but certainly AT&T long benefitted from local telephone monopolies that resulted in increased prices and slower innovation than would otherwise have been delivered. Even today, long distance carriers are licensed and there are substantial regulatory barriers to entry. International calls still are made under the control of an international cartel of governments that keep prices way above competitive levels. This benefits AT&T and the rest. Since it costs 2 cents a minute to *produce* a call to London from New York the 45 cents to $1 a minute charged represent an excessive price protected by the government regulated cartel status of telecoms even in the Age of Deregulation. AT&T should get honest work as should the others. Maybe when I get a 10 (25?) mbps cable connection to the nets, I'll start offering my neighbors net connections and LD phone service. I could make a pretty penny even savagely cutting the telco's markup. Lots of challenges ther but doable. DCF